DAC Question: Delta-Sigma vs R2R

The Border Patrol you are looking at is a good bet.  Whether with a tube based system it will go too mellow I can't say, but it would certainly not present any 'bright' audio issues.   I have tinnitus, and hyperacusis in the top end (hyperacusis is a sensitivity to loud noise in a frequency, and to  me it is in the treble wnd of things - for example a live piano is intolerable to me if I stand nearby).  So I appreciate a system with no aggression in that top end and no exactly what you mean.

back to the OP's question.

R2R DACs run each of the 16-24 bits through a specific resistor pair combination to create the analog counterpart, then sum and filter the result.

Bitstream DACs use pulse density modulation on a single resistor. The more "1"s the higher the voltage. It too is summed a filtered. This is also how light dimmers work and how your car's fuel injection works.

depending on how technical you are you can get the original paper from Philips online.  R2R goes back to Bell Labs for t-carrier.

There are benefits to either.  in general i would argue that the DAC chip itself is th least important component of the system. Just as i have made tubes, FETs and BJTs sound basically the same, those two can sound very very similar until you get to ratified air of quality. Its all abotu power supplies, filters, I/V converters (amps), timing contorl, isolation, blah, blah.

G

Added the Benchmark DAC 3B to my system, (solely listen to R&R fairly loudly) Tekton DI's  Just over 13k system, what a difference, NOT MARGINAL!!!!  Rory,  at Benchmark will spend all the time you need, questions,  etc.  30 day trial period, 5 year warranty, based in upstate NY  I also added their LA-4 Line amp, all balanced, to be truly transparent. VERY impressed. Robert TN

I have been researching the last few years, and auditioning many brands.

I believe in dual or multiple channel dac’s, and after that, it is a particular OEM’s ’mixed salad’ you are listening to rather than just the DAC’s technology, i.e. upscale, over-clock, anti-jitter, sound shaping, optional filters ....

Have return option, keep going until you land on one you prefer. I think 'prefer' to 'better'. Try to keep 'prefer' in mind when reading reviews.

These involve SACD/CD players with Internal DAC’s, but many streaming and separate DAC’s comments are included

specific for Sony SCD-XA5400ES

prior ’Better CD’

I’m just a caveman lawyer, but…technological obsolescence keeps me very cautious on anything digital that is expensive…My thesis is that a simple $300 DAC released last month is probably better than a five-year old $3,000 DAC. So, I buy simple, well-reviewed DACs at modest prices, and change them up every few years, and really don’t worry about it much.  Now using the iFi Zen Signature v2, and it’s enjoyable day-to-day (I have music on 12 hours a day, low volume, but always there).  I appreciate that I am missing out on the quality I could obtain with say a Benchmark DAC3 (and I will buy one used if I can catch it for the right price).  DEQX was apparently transformational to listeners when released (I’ve not heard it), and cost $5,000, but I can’t imagine they survive unless they just sell a $500 downloadable software package at this point

I have a nice vinyl setup on my rig.  I use it to listen to a selection of maybe 90 albums that make sense to me to own on vinyl (love the music, sound quality, understanding the origin of the pressing, and the music is of a scale that it could have been played in my living room. Neil Young at the Cellar Door vs. Zeppelin). I use a DAC and Roon for 90% of my listening

I’m looking forward to the abusive replies, but maybe this point of view is a useful way to think about where to spend money on a system when maybe 10% of our time is really listening, and most of the rest is day-to-day pleasure

Fun topic!